Review of Linda Hall’s Night Watch…
(Linda Hall, Night Watch, 2014, ebook ISBN 978-0-9877613-6-1, pbook ISBN 978-0-9877613-7-8, ASIN B00NKPI2WK)
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. One of the great pleasures I derive from reviewing books is discovering new authors I mightn’t notice otherwise. Here we have an example. Ms. Hall is a gifted writer and this novel is well written, entertaining, and different. It’s a mystery with a different wrinkle.
Emmeline (Em) Ridge is a female boat delivery captain. In other words, she’ll follow rich people around the oceans and deliver their sailing yachts to them. En route to Bermuda, she is captaining a new fifty-two-foot luxury sailboat when she’s awaken below deck to learn that a crew member, Kricket Patterson, is overboard. It’s Em’s first sail after acquiring her captain’s license and not an auspicious start for the new captain. Kricket’s the daughter of the owner of the yacht, but when the parents arrive to identify the recovered body, it turns out that she’s someone else who has Kricket’s passport.
I love the characters in this mystery. They’re all conflicted, including Em, who still is recovering from her husband’s death. Like most good mysteries, who’s the villain isn’t always clear, due to these conflicted characters and their actions. I was even suspecting the detective who runs the murder investigation (the Kricket-lookalike was murdered) and Em’s two nosy neighbor ladies before the thrilling climax.
Plotting and dialogues are well done as well as Em unravels the tangled web of events. She often is filled with self-doubt but exhibits an inner strength that goes beyond her significant sailing skills. A smart, strong woman, her conflicts include not getting over her husband and an attraction for both the detective and another sea captain. This isn’t a romance novel, though; it’s a full-fledged mystery taking place in unusual settings.
Those settings were wonderful too. Like the author, I love the sea. I grew up in California, and one of my favorite spots is Big Sur. Maine down east is the nearest thing to Big Sur on the East Coast; I’ve enjoyed many R&R hours from Bar Harbor to Ogunquit. I never learned to sail, but I’m one of those persons Ms. Hall mentions in her novel—I never get sea sick, love being on all kinds of boats, and will choose a cruise over an airline trip any day. The author knows how to sail and gives a great deal of colorful background to the book by describing Em’s sailing skills, weaving it into the story in a masterful fashion. It makes me want to take lessons…until I come to my senses.
In conclusion, the author spins a good yarn in a way that kept me into the story. I don’t know how she’ll manage taking Emmeline into sequel-land, but I’m looking forward to new tales involving this protagonist. I’ll be looking for them—a new one’s due out next spring.
[The reviewer received a free copy of the ebook in return for an honest review. An interview with this prolific author will soon follow this review.]
In libris libertas….
